I am writing in response to a March 18 letter from Celia Stall-Meadows of Tulsa. 

In her letter, she alleges that my position on President Obama’s health care reform proposal has not been clear and that I am “planning to vote yes.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Since holding my  first of seven town halls on health care reform, I have made my position on Obama’s health care proposal clear: I am 100% opposed to it.  

Stall Meadows specifically mentions the town hall that I held in Pryor on Aug. 18. At the beginning of the Pryor town hall I said, “on HR 3200 (the only bill that had be released at the time) I am a no vote.” 

In fact there is a picture of me on the  front page of the Aug. 19, 2009 “Daily Oklahoman,” at the exact Pryor meeting that Stall-Meadows references in her letter with a large bold headline stating: “On health plan, Boren says he’s a no vote.”

Furthermore, since the beginning of the health care reform debate I have given multiple interviews to both national and local news outlets in which I have stated unequivocally that I will not, and cannot, support the president’s health care proposal.  

A Nov. 5, 2009, press release from my Washington office that was referenced in multiple Oklahoma newspapers states, “As promised, Boren a no on health care bill.”

And even though there have been different versions of the health care reform legislation, my position has not changed. Four months later during a March 10 interview with the Fox News Channel, I said pointedly, “They can break my arms, they can break my legs, they can walk over my dead body, but I will not vote for the health care bill."

Throughout this entire process, I pledged to vote against this health care measure for numerous reasons — not just the public option. 

I am opposed to the tax increases it contains, and I believe that they are the last thing we should be doing during a recession. I am opposed to the mandates on small businesses, and I am opposed to the Medicare cuts that are in the bill. 

I believe that creating a huge new entitlement program is the last thing our federal government should be doing in a time of record budget deficits and national debt.

Finally, I have said all along that Congress should be focusing on job creation and improving our economy right now, and not a government takeover of the health care system.

When I make a promise to my constituents, I keep my word.

There should be no misinformation or confusion about my position on the health care reform bill.  I have voted no once already on this bill. 

I will be voting no on it again, and I will vote against any procedural mechanism that the leadership in Congress uses to try and pass it.



(Editor’s note: Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., sent this letter just before Sunday’s passage in the U.S. House of health care reform.)

Reach Boren at 216 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515 or by phone at (202) 225-2701.